Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Ren felt Nora's hand trembling in his own, the rising sun over the icy tundras of Mantle illuminating not only the horizon but her ginger locks, the light making her hair look like golden fire. Golden like her heart, the same heart she had placed into his hands. He wasn't sure if he was worthy of such honor yet she gave it to him all the same. He silently promised himself--no, he promised them both, he'd care for it as best he could. Her eyes met his, her soft turquoise meeting his magenta as it had a million times before. He pulled her closer, the morning sun bringing at least some warmth to the frozen world around them but wanting to keep her warm all the same, even though she felt far warmer than he did.

They didn't need to say anything, their eyes saying everything they couldn't say. He was the one to initiate the kiss this time, a gentler kiss than the one she'd pulled him into at the rally, but the sentiment was the same. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her as close as he could. After breaking the kiss, she tucked her head underneath his chin, her face hidden in the crook of his neck. He looked over to the horizon, and in that moment, even if briefly, they felt safe.

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Sometimes Ruby had dreams about Pyrrha, still. Sometimes she would relive those last moments, just making it to the top of Beacon’s tower in time to watch Cinder’s arrow plunge into her chest, those last gasps of breath before the light faded from her brilliant green eyes once and for all. The way Cinder turned her into shining ash in a second, as if one of the strongest people Ruby knew, in more ways than one, had been nothing at all. She woke up trying not to scream from those dreams, not wanting to awaken her friends, especially not Pyrrha’s teammates, not Jaune, not wanting them to know how she was still haunted. If she had made it in time, she believed, Pyrrha would be here.

Sometimes the dreams seemed to show her another timeline, another universe, where Pyrrha was still there, still breathing, as strong as she ever was. Her armor would be different, sometimes her hair cropped short, but it was still Pyrrha, ever smiling in her sweet way. Autumn leaves flowing around the tall redhead as she seemed to dance around her. Sometimes Ruby could swear she felt it when Pyrrha took her hand in her own, always warm like she herself was.

Sometimes she couldn’t see Pyrrha, but she could hear her. Sometimes it would be something she’d heard her saying at Beacon, a replay of an old conversation, or a song she’d sung when she thought no one had been listening. Sometimes, it was just her calling Jaune’s name. Or even her’s.

Ruby’s dreams of Pyrrha made her heart feel heavy, the same kind of heavy she felt when she thought of her own mother.

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Rumor around the school was that another town somewhere in Anima had fallen to Grimm overnight. A small settlement not too far from where Kuroyuri had been. Ren only made enough pancakes for his teammates, opting just to have tea and to be alone in their dorm room. He barely touched the tea, the mug placed on his bedside table and forgotten as he pulled his knees to his tightened chest. Memories flooded into his mind, a certain grim’s hoof marks embedded in dirt, the screams and cries of agony of everything he’d once held dear.

He’d expected Nora to come comfort him before Pyrrha did, but the two had begun to grow close recently, the two quieter members of JNPR finding a kind of solace in one another. She sat beside him, not pulling him from his tightened sitting position as Nora or even Jaune would, instead offering an ear and just listening to him. It took him a bit of time to open up, but as tears he couldn’t fight back anymore spilled, so did his history from his lips.

At one point, he wasn’t sure, Pyrrha’s hand found his own. Her hand was warmer than his, even through her gloves, and it held on tightly, grounding him. Soon, he was leaning his spinning head onto her shoulder, her freehand stroking his hair softly, reassuring him with soft words. She kissed his forehead.

He glanced up as the door opened to their dorm. He saw Jaune and Nora exchange a glance, then smile at each other. 

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“Your hair is so pretty, Pyrrha.” Nora spoke softly, twirling the silken red locks in her fingers, braiding it one night after they’d had dinner and returned to their dormitory room. It was a Friday so they had no classes the next day and could stay up a bit, and it was far past the usual time they’d all go to sleep normally. However only the feminine half of JNPR was still awake; sparring had exhausted Jaune to the point where he hadn’t even changed into his pajamas and Ren rarely stayed up past his bedtime anyway.

“Yours is too, you know.” Pyrrha returned the compliment sweetly, as her hair was completely braided. They turned and Pyrrha ran her own fingers gingerly through Nora’s shorter, more orange hair, thicker than her own. Nora hummed softly, allowing her scalp to be massaged by her girlfriend in the quiet, dimmed lighted dormitory room. Eventually she leaned back against Pyrrha and was enveloped into a hug from behind, the taller girl’s strong arms around her waist.

“What do you want to do tomorrow?” Nora murmured, her eyelids growing heavy; she wasn’t trying to fall asleep on top of Pyrrha but sleep was slowly creeping up on her.

“Whatever you want.” Pyrrha replied softly, running her hands through Nora’s hair.

“I don’t care as long as I’m with you, Pyrrie.” Nora piped with a smile.

“You’re so sweet.” Pyrrha sighed with a smile.

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Nora loved Ren, and Jaune loved Ren. In the beginning, the arrangement was that they were both dating him, and they were alright with that. When Nora began to realize she was falling for Jaune, too, she worried that it would only make things more complicated between all three of them. She didn’t like hiding things from Ren, so of course she told him, despite her fear that she’d be hurting him with her honestly.

“Tell him.” Ren told her, his voice as soft as the smile he’d given her.

“You’re not upset?” Nora asked, her voice cracking. She hadn’t been able to stop herself from crying, she wasn’t as controlled in her emotions as her lover was.

“Of course not. I love you both. You two loving each other actually makes things easier for me.”

So one evening she pulls Jaune aside while they’re eating dinner, finding herself too compelled to wait until after she’s eaten to do it. She can’t find her appetite when her insides are fluttering together in the same way they had before she’d confessed to Ren. She holds Jaune’s strong hand in her own and he gives her an unsure look with his blue eyes that she resents herself for taking so long to see the beauty in.

But then Jaune beats her to the punch, cupping her chin in his free hand and leaning down and kissing her. Their first kiss is soft and reluctant until Nora presses up into it, having to stand on her tiptoes to reach him better, as he’s almost a foot taller than her.

“I love you.” he breathes against her lips, voice trembling. She knows she’s not the first person he’s wanted to say it to. She knows who that honor belongs to and she wishes he’d been able to have had the chance to.

“I love you too.” she whispers and pulls him into another kiss. They don’t see Ren looking from inside at them, smiling. They do feel the wind pick up for a moment, caressing them both softly.

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Having the weekends off from classes meant that team JNPR could go out on adventures around Vale, though today a rainy day had gotten the better of them. Much to Nora’s disappointment there was no thunderstorm, but the rain made the hot summer temperatures die down enough to be comfortable enough for light sweaters. They settled for playing a board game but sooner or later the four of them instead found themselves just piled together in bed, their four individual beds long since pushed together into one.

Coincidentally they laid in name order, Jaune on one end, Nora and Pyrrha cuddled together in the middle, then Ren on the other. Jaune’s head rested on top of Nora’s, his smaller girlfriend tucked between him and his taller (though not quite as tall as him) girlfriend, his boyfriend spooning her with his face in her red hair. They made light conversation about the day, complimenting one another softly. Little things being said between them. 

They cuddled in closer as the rain seemed to pick up, just loud enough to be heard over the soft music they played on the CD player Pyrrha had brought with her to Beacon. Ren was the first to fall asleep, as usual, his face tucked against the back of her head. Nora usually dozed off next, tucked softly between her two taller lovers, her fingers laced in Ren’s over Pyrrha’s waist. Jaune and Pyrrha wordlessly smiled at each other before they too fell asleep, safe in each other’s arms.

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Jaune couldn't stop thinking about it. She must have not thought much about it when she'd done it. She hadn't said a word about it since it happened and she acted like nothing had happened at all.

But Ruby had kissed Jaune on the cheek. Sure, an innocent gesture enough, but this was Ruby. The first person he had befriended on his first day of Beacon. The leader of her team despite her two year head start, a team that just beat out his own as the talk of the first years at the school. Sweet, kind, adorable, badass Ruby Rose. She kissed him on the cheek.

He wasn't sure how to feel. His heart felt a pull in her direction, sure, but it was still in the hands of someone else. Someone who was now gone, someone who he hadn't gotten to tell how he felt for. And he didn't want to hurt Ruby because he hadn't let go of Pyrrha yet. He still wasn't ready to, fiddling with the tattered red sash around his waist that had once been Pyrrha's, his armor and weapons having hers embedded into them.

And yet that kiss Ruby left on his cheek lingered like the one Pyrrha left on his lips. The way she looked at him now, nervous, unsure of what to say, made him feel a tear at his heart, an all new break alongside the crack already there from the last heartbreak.

He wasn't ready, not now. Maybe he would be eventually. But he couldn't face her to say anything, and he thought himself a coward for that.

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“Do you wanna just hang out today? Since we don’t have classes?” Blake asked Yang as Weiss was dragged by Ruby out of their dorm room ranting about teaching the heiress how to bake cookies. Yang, still in her pajamas, looked up from her bed at her partner.

“Sure, why not.” she replied, still a bit groggy but smiling up at Blake nonetheless. Blake returned the smile. After Yang got ready the two walked around campus, opposite the direction the other half of their team had gone (Yang decided it was for the best to avoid that brand of chaos altogether today). The two wandered around campus for some time until reaching one of the common rooms that were unoccupied. The two of them exchanged a glance, then a smirk.

“Think I can keep my winning streak in Huntress Strike?” Yang challenged.

“I think I’m about to end your reign of terror.” Blake responded playfully. The two of them pulled out their scrolls and played several rounds of the fighting game.

Blake broke the streak eventually, even starting one of her own. At least until Ren came in and challenged her and made quick work of her, then Yang, who challenged him back in attempted (feign) vengeance.

Eventually a text from Ruby ended the gaming session, a picture of mostly perfect cookies attached.

“Well, three batches in and she only burned a few of them.”

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The first night in Mistral should have meant relaxation for Ruby and her friends. After crossing a continent on foot to get to Haven Academy, the four huntsmen in training and the veteran huntsman, her dear uncle Qrow, were exhausted. Not to mention Qrow’s weakened state, but thankfully the amount of poison in his system hadn’t done enough damage to kill him. Between keeping an eye on him (although reassured he would be okay) and the rest of her companions, Ruby Rose was in for a rough night ahead of her.

Jaune would either be staring at Crocea Mors, at the circlet etched over its surface, tracing his fingers across it’s edges, or at least laying down. His eyes would be wide open, staring at the ceiling. Hypocritically, he murmured softly at her to go get some sleep at least once during the night. He did eventually pass out, still in his armor and everything, lopsided on the bed he had all to himself.

In JNR’s shared room, Nora and Ren shared the other bed. Not quite together-together, but what had happened in Kuroyuri definitely seemed to etch them closer. They always slept close together, but usually Ren would either share a bed with Jaune while she shared Nora’s bed when they’d stayed in inns before. Now Nora was fully laying in Ren’s arms, the two partners clinging to each other in sleep. Ruby’s heart at least felt a little happy for them.

Ruby paced back and forth between their room and her room with Qrow until she realized the sun had been rising. Had she really stayed up the whole night? Had it all gotten to her so badly?

She wondered if her own team was okay. She wondered if JNR would be okay. If she would be okay.

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Jaune Arc was normally a mild, kind individual who wouldn't hurt a fly. Or a Grimm, as he was a huntsman now, and that was his job. Maybe the grief of losing his partner, Pyrrha, had made his temperament a bit harder to manage sometimes, making him more reckless with his own safety, but with time those wounds had been healing and he was slowly getting back to his old self again. 

Then he found Oscar outside of Mantle. His new partner, a former farmhand turned aspiring hunter with a destiny he never asked for placed into his hands, was hobbling to him. His aura was low, Jaune could tell just by looking at him, shivering. There was a spot of blood on his coat, as if Oscar had been shot. 

Had Oscar been shot? Who the hell could have shot him?! Who--

Ironwood.

Fucking James Ironwood.

But unlike with Cinder, the woman behind the death of his partner, he could not find that same rage he felt with the General’s name. No, now, something else overwhelmed him, filled his tired blue eyes with tears as he ran to Oscar, scooping the younger boy in his arms. Oscar clung back, in his weakened state, also starting to cry. Jaune spoke soft words of reassurance as he carried the boy back to where the others were. His heart pounded in his chest as he also swore to himself:

No one else. I’m not going to lose anyone else.

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The first thing Pyrrha realized was that she couldn’t quite breathe as well, every inward breath causing a sharp, almost burning pain in the center of her chest. Her entire body felt heavy, and numb, save her chest and her right ankle, and her head, which throbbed. Her mouth was dry and there was something over her eyes that obscured her vision.

She heard voices all around her; Ruby’s, shakily reassuring her that she was going to be okay. A deeper voice, that man with the cape like Ruby’s who had been with Ozpin, saying she was lucky to be alive. Jaune’s brokenly thanking whatever Gods had allowed her to come back to them alive. She heard Nora sobbing, maybe also Ren. She heard Ironwood speaking to her mother, then the angry voice of her father, making her flinch even in her current state.

She had failed. Failed to stop Cinder Fall, failed to become the fall maiden, failed to save Beacon Academy. Ozpin was dead. And she couldn’t help but overhear when the doctors told them that she might never fight again. 

She was alive. But what for?

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Whitley Schnee seemed to have lost everything. His home, his parents, his apparent future. It was all gone. He didn’t know what was going to happen to him next, and he was afraid. His own body, thin and bruised (thankfully no more than bruised), shivered and trembled with every creeping thought, every what if, what could possibly happen next. He couldn’t do much on his own, never having unlocked his aura, having no apparent semblance. He was not gifted like his two sisters, Winter and Weiss. He didn’t even know if they were alive right now.

Well, he didn’t know if Winter was alive. As he became more aware of his surroundings, some kind of infirmary (not a hospital, it was far too barebones and frankly below his ingrained standards), he noticed, slumped in a chair, the sleeping form of Weiss, the middle Schnee sibling. She was asleep, her tear streaked face mostly obscured underneath some kind of red sheet; a cape? There seemed to be a hood attached.

Whitley almost hated how his lip began to quiver. He didn’t know how to feel, the sister who seemed to always be running away from home, from him , was right there by his side. The sister who had left him alone with his parents, and yet, the one beside him. He wasn’t sure if he was even worthy to be alive, let alone having her here with him.

“Weiss?” his voice cracked softly, he hated how dry his throat felt, despite the tears that began to streak down his face. Weiss seemed to shoot up suddenly, her own eyes bloodshot as she looked at him. She didn’t bother fighting her tears, reaching for his (unbelievably bruised) hand and gently held it between her own.

“It’s okay, I’m here.” she breathed. Whitley squeezed his watery eyes shut, begging them to stop shedding tears. He hated being vulnerable around his family, hated showing weakness, because weakness could be exploited (and often was, in his family). But Weiss just softly reassured him, they were safe, she was here, and she wouldn’t leave him again.

He should wonder why she even cared, but right now, all he wanted to do was cry. And maybe, silently promise he’d be better to her. A better brother. And, maybe, she wouldn’t leave again this time if he was. Because, as it seemed, he had nothing else left but to be her brother.

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Jaune realized one night he didn’t mind so much being sandwiched between Nora and Ren in the guest bedroom in his sister’s home, the two of them breathing softly in their sleep, Ren curled around his back and Nora against his chest. He didn’t mind the softness of Ren’s breath against the back of his neck, the way Nora murmured softly about pancakes in her sleep and snuggled more closely against him. The way Nora’s small hands had held his pajama shirt in a soft fist, clingy even in her state of sleep.

He didn’t mind the way Ren later woke him up by running his surprisingly soft hands through his blonde hair, looking down at him with his pink eyes, ever so softly. He didn’t mind how Nora woke up with a start and nearly headbutt him sitting up sharply as she realized it was morning.

What Jaune did mind was the way his stomach lurched when they leaned over him and kissed each other softly. He knew they were together and they had always been close even before that, but he hated how left out he felt. He’d always had a little bit of a jealous streak even if these days he kept it more to himself. And he minded that he didn’t know who he was more jealous of, or if he was jealous of them both, or if he was just missing her .

Jaune didn’t know what he was feeling anymore. 

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Jaune didn’t know when it happened. Maybe he had finally healed enough to notice that his heart was yearning for someone else, though Pyrrha would always have a claim to at least part of it. He didn’t realize it was possible for his heart to want more than one person. He was relieved that those feelings he’d started to feel watching Nora and Ren grow closer weren’t the bitter pangs of jealousy he was all too familiar with, but a longing to be a part of what they had with each other. He didn’t want to come in between them, but with them--both of them.

It caught him off guard, however, that they wanted him too. It started with glances from both of them; Nora looking over her shoulder after hugging Ren, Ren giving him a shy smile while Nora led the two of them down the street, her hand in Ren’s but her free hand flailing, not sure of what to do with itself. He noticed they started going out of their way to include him more, spend more time as just the three of them. Eventually, Nora’s hand would bravely take Jaune’s.

It was Ren, however, who kissed him first. It was late one night and the three of them were still awake, hushed words and flustered, quiet confessions and Ren just kissed Jaune softly. Any worry that Nora would be hurt by the gesture was quickly erased when as soon as Ren’s kiss ended, Nora turned Jaune’s head to her and she kissed him too, barely giving Jaune a second to catch his breath. In his breathless state, he held them both closer, laying between them. They fell asleep with Nora’s head on one of Jaune’s shoulders and Ren’s on the other.

Breathlessly, he mentally carved their names in his heart alongside Pyrrha’s.

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Yang trembled when Blake’s hand took her own, the two huntresses having made it through an arguably rough few days of fighting and travelling. They were alone in the room, only a couch and a lit fireplace and a bookcase full of books older than either of them, some older than the both of them combined. It was a tiny room to have to share for the night, and Yang had worried there hadn’t been enough room, so Yang had volunteered to maybe see if she could sleep with Weiss and Ruby.

Which absolutely was not a front for her suddenly being nervous to be alone in a room with her partner, no, not at all. But Blake’s amber eyes stared into her amethyst ones intensely, pleadingly, their hands softly linked. Yang could easily pull her hand away and leave but that look halted her, paralyzed her.

“Stay.” Was all Blake said, her face softening to a smile. A smile Yang had come to trust, to love. Gods, she loved everything about Blake, she loved Blake . But as much as she couldn’t pull away, she couldn’t quite make the move to come closer either. Yang knew she was standing on the edge of something and Blake was going to pull her over.

And she wanted her to, more than anything. So she did, pulling Yang closer, gently, wrapping her arms around the taller girl’s waist, resting her head on Yang’s shoulder. And Yang held her back, her prosthetic arm around Blake’s waist and the other hand running through Blake’s shorter hair. They both released a breath neither knew they’d been holding.

“I’ll stay.” Yang added, softly.

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I'm just going to complete this collection and maybe start a new collection for the new year if I do continue to write ficlets, which I'm not entirely sure I'm going to do; while it's nice to have the exercise I've found that I'd like to dedicate the time to longer fics into the new year (as well as start maybe writing original stuff? we'll see if this is the year I finally just do it lol) but I find that unless I'm doing ship weeks I tend to write 2-3 page long fics as opposed to this shorter ficlet format. 

I started writing these after joining the JNPR fanclub discord server and meeting some really great people who have not only kept me in a fandom I was considering leaving because of toxicity (while still watching the show; I promised myself I'd stick around to the end for Monty) but kept me more or less sane; it's been a long time since I've found an online space where I genuinely feel like I'm part of something and not just another lurker. I've left a lot of other Discords this year because no other place has made me feel so happy to share my productivity whether it's through these shorter fics, my longer fics, or little Picsart edits, or my occasional (rather subpar if I'm being honest) doodles. (Another resolution of mine is definitely getting into my art again even if I gotta force myself to draw something once a day)

Anyway, thank you for reading these ficlets. I'm sorry to abruptly decide to discontinue this (at least this collection) but I feel like the tags are getting a bit ridiculous and I could be adding to my work count instead of just adding onto this one. I'm going to try to post at least one more one-shot before year's end but I'm not sure what that's going to be just yet. I hope you'll check it out, and read my other works if you haven't if you'd like.

Thanks for making a sucky year suck a bit less. 

With love,

Kat.